CPP is just using Samia – Sekou Nkrumah

Son of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Sekou Nkrumah is worried that the Convention People’s Party [CPP] is only “using” his sister, Samia who was recently elected Chairperson of the party to create a false impression of a revival in the CPP.

Speaking on Adom TV’s BADWAM program on Multi TV, Sekou Nkrumah said his sister has a huge task ahead of her since the party she now chairs wants everyone to believe that it has been revived.

Members of the CPP after their recent congress in Accra which saw the election of Samia and other national executives into office have been proclaiming a rebirth of the party most people consider dead. And Sekou Nkrumah thinks the picture being painted of s new CPP is inaccurate.

“CPP is using Samia Nkrumah to represent the revival of the party which is not the case on the grounds. Is there really a revival?” he asked.

According to him, calls for an alternative political party besides the ruling NDC and the main opposition NPP to serve as a third political force does not make the CPP is that alternative party.

“Almost everyone is calling for a third force in our political system and yet it’s not clear why we need a third force. If the people of Ghana are tired of the NDC and NPP the third force should not necessarily be the CPP” he argued.

Dr. Nkrumah who was speaking via telephone on the program said the CPP since 1992 has been struggling to find its level in Ghana’s contemporary politics. He attributed the party’s struggles to the formation of the NDC which he said has over the years captured seats that traditionally belonged to the CPP thus making the NDC the new CPP.

He argued that the only way the CPP can become strong again is for it to be fused with the NDC or for the CPP to completely destroy the NDC.

“Look at what happened in 2008, CPP had all the publicity and the hype, yet the party performed poorly. We need more than the son or daughter of Kwame Nkrumah to revive the party” he opined.

According to him, Kwame Nkrumah was a very unique leader who had a very exceptional personality thus for anyone to step in his shoes, ‘you must have that drive’.

“I’m not seeing anybody who can step into Nkrumah’s shoes in Ghanaian politics. What I see most politicians do today is misuse monies and feed themselves to the detriment of the masses. Politicians today lack the ability to inspire and organise people” he argued.

“When Kwame Nkrumah was invited to come to Ghana it was not because his dad was this or that. He was invited to rule this country because the people saw leadership qualities in him. And when Nkrumah came, he did not disappoint Ghanaians. My sister will have to prove herself worthy of the position. Currently she is unable to disengage herself from her position as an MP and the Chairman of the CPP. That alone is enough for me to say that Samia is not ready to take off” he concluded.